No more whining!

Yesterday, I kept my niece Caroline for about an hour in the morning while her mom (my sister) took Caroline's little sister to her Little Gym class.  Field took his morning nap almost the entire time Caroline was here, so we played games on the computer, decorated paper with Christmas stickers, read books, and played with all of my jewelry.  (Caroline loves to put on every necklace of mine at the same time and then take them off one by one oohing and awing over each piece of jewelry).  Suddenly, a lot happened at once.  Field woke up from his nap, my sister and youngest niece arrived at the door, and the exterminator came for his monthly spray of the outside perimeter of our house (we found ants in Field's bed one day and there have been other incidents of scary bugs in the house so we decided to do a LIGHT spray around the outside of perimeter of the house several times a year.  I am not a fan of chemicals, but I am REALLY not a fan of bugs in my baby's bed so we had to do something about it!)  Anyway, I was not prepared and did not know the exterminator was coming that day - usually I leave the house and kennel our dog ahead of time.  I told the exterminator to go ahead and start spraying around the front and I would bring in our dog from the backyard before he went to the back gate.  I closed the front door, my train of thought changed, and I completely forgot to bring in our dog, Belle.  We had 3 children ages 3 and under running around the house and my mind was all over the place.  A few minutes later the exterminator came back to the front door to casually tell me he opened the gate and our dog took off running as he pointed down the street.  Are you kidding me?  I looked out and down the street and didn't see Belle.  Great.  So I told me sister to hold down the fort and jumped in my car to look for Belle.  I circled the neighborhood several times and no sign of Belle.  I started to panic and arrived back home a complete mess.  I was crying.  When I walked in the door and noticed Belle's collar with her identifying information by the back door - I completely LOST IT and was pretty hysterical.  We have been trying to train our dog not to bark because it wakes Field up from naps and it is just annoying to me and all the neighbors I'm sure so she has been wearing a shock collar in the morning when she does most of her barking at the morning walkers in our neighborhood.  So her regular collar was not on her.  All I could think was that Belle, my husband's beloved dog for many years, was gone and it was all my fault.  I hysterically cried to my sister and as I was running around the house trying to figure out what to do, my niece Caroline looked at my sister and said, "I don't know why she's freaking out!"  Ha.  My sister had me hold down the fort this time and she took off to find Belle.  In the meantime, I sat down in a chair with Field - still crying - and Caroline comes up, sits down with me and says,

"Lisa, stop your whining.  It's Christmas and Santa is coming to bring you presents and look, you have a Christmas tree with a star on top and you have a TV (she started looking around the room naming things that she saw).  So stop your whining."

Not but a few minutes later my sister calls to tell me to open my front door and there is Belle who sprints through the front door nearly knocking over my two nieces.

Children have such a gift of putting things in perspective and bringing us back to reality.  I know I don't whine TOO much on the blog, but believe me, I whine a lot about what we are going through right now.  Lately, I've whined about reflux and I've whined about the upcoming surgery.  As Caroline says, STOP your whining, Lisa!  It's time for me to trust in Him and be thankful for the many blessings we have been given.  So tonight, I vow to stop whining.  Thanks to my niece/goddaughter for reminding me how very blessed I am.  

Loving his exersaucer!

Loving time with his Granddaddy!

It's December?!?

Wow, I cannot believe it is already December!  I am so BEHIND so forgive me for the super long post.

First and foremost, we are currently having a HUGE reflux flare-up.  It's the worst it's ever been which is so disappointing because I thought we had been through the worst.  There have been times when I just thought it couldn't get any worse and here we are now - it's SO tough!  Reflux is SO not invited to the Johnson house and why, oh why, does he keep coming back - how rude!

I have had a really rough time with it this go 'round.  When you are a mom, all you want is to feed your baby the nutrition they need to grow and it is absolutely heartbreaking when my baby doesn't want to eat because it is painful for him.  I hear his tummy growling, I know he is hungry, but the pain is just too unbearable.  The spitting up is bad too - unfortunately Field is fighting back liquids that creep up every now and then and bring the tummy acid along too which is PAINFUL!  We would really appreciate your prayers for Field's reflux to subside, or better yet, go away forever.  We would also covet your prayers for a solution to the reflux - whether by meds or new formula or both.  Right now, all that Field will take is my breastmilk - which is fine for now except I don't foresee myself pumping until June 2011.  I am crazy enough as it is...pumping for another 6 months would really put me over the edge.  :)  So we are trying to figure out which formula to use.  Field should be on a non-dairy, hypoallergenic formula to help with the reflux symptoms, but he doesn't seem to like any of these "fancy" formulas.  He wants the good 'ole basic formulas, but these are all dairy based and we think some of this reflux is from dairy.  We are working closely with our pediatrician to solve this problem.

Anyway, enough about that, your prayers would be wonderful!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving last week.  We spent time with my family and it was so fun.  We are blessed to have such a fun family.

Field LOVES his cousins and they love him!

Cousins Caroline and Ellie want to be like Field and play in the exersaucer.

My birthday was the day after Thanksgiving and my wonderful husband and friends set up a lovely lunch!  It was supposed to be all girls, but Brad showed up and visited for a little while during his work lunch break.  We had a wonderful time together and it was the longest lunch ever!  You know you had fun when you leave and look at the time and are shocked at how long you've been sitting there.  :)

My sweet friends surprised me with a beautiful heart necklace to remind me that our family is always in their prayers and in their hearts.  Their love for us is such a blessing.

On Saturday, we headed out to my family's ranch.  My parents surprised me with a darling birthday sign on the gate.  I was so surprised, I started crying!  They decorated our bedroom door, had cups made, and a darling "ranchy" cake too.  The perfect Texas-y 30th birthday!

We had such a fun time at the ranch with my family, the Johnson family, and all of the Sedlaks (my sister's in-laws).  We are hoping to make this some sort of a tradition.  We missed my brother and sister-in-law and hope they'll be able to join us next year!  How fun for Field to be with his beloved Nonnie and Granddaddy (Brad's parents) AND BB and Poppy (my parents) all at the same time.  This was Field's first trip to the ranch and we think he liked it!

He fit right in with his camo gear and John Deere boots (thank you, Mrs. Knocke!).

My beautiful niece was right by my side when I blew the cake candles out.  

This sweet girl has such a sweet tooth!

We had our monthly cardiology appointment on Tuesday and all is good there.  We won't see our local cardiologist again until after surgery.  Yikes...scary that surgery is so close.  It will be here before we know it.  We would love your prayers for that as well.  Peace for all of us and that Field will go into surgery at his strongest and very best.  Also that there will not be any surprises and that surgery and recovery will all be smooth and stable.

Thank you all so much and happy weekend!

Baptism

Field was baptized this past Sunday.  It was a beautiful and blessed day for us.  Brad and I feel so relieved knowing that Field now belongs to the Lord (we know he did before, but now it's official :).  Field did SO well during the baptism.  After the third sprinkle of water over his head he let out a huge sigh (almost as if he was glad that was over. Ha!) and then when he was walked out into the congregation, he pulled the mic off of the minister.  :)  Little stinker!  Other than that, he was perfect.

Field wore a beautiful baptismal gown made by Brad's mom of family heirlooms.  We did get several comments about how pretty our "daughter" looked.  Poor little guy!  

During the baptism, Field was told that whether he lives or whether he dies, he belongs to the Lord.  This really caught Brad and I off guard and we squeezed each other a little harder at this moment.  My mother-in-law reminded me later that they say that to every baby and at every baptism.  I guess it just takes on more meaning when your child has a life threatening medical condition.  But...it is wonderful and comforting to know that our boy belongs to the Lord - and it's official!

Afterwards, we had a lovely luncheon at my parents' home with great family and friends.  It was such fun and again, such a blessing.  Field was happy and content the entire time.  He loves being around people - such a socialite!

This baptism post seems like the perfect opportunity to thank all of you that read the blog religiously (no pun intended) and pray for our family daily.  Your prayers mean more to us than anything and we feel so very blessed to have the love and support of so many.  We are committed to raising Field in a loving, Christian home and we pray that Field forms a relationship with the Lord early on, always knowing that God loves him.

The Johnson Family

The Barnett Family

Sweet friends that came to celebrate with us.

 Field's buddy Harper and her cute parents

Field's great uncle Terry and great aunt Sue - we love them!

Our prayer for Field is that he NEVER feels alone, that he knows that he is loved and adored by so many, and that the Lord dwells in his perfect and special heart forever.

And a very Happy 5 month Birthday to Field!  We love you little guy!

BB

Today is my mom's birthday.  I don't even know where to begin.  My mom has been a true God-send for my entire life, really, but ESPECIALLY these past 5 months.  We are so very appreciative and thankful for her unending love, support, and time.

And just to share a little about BB...

Pics of my mom and dad back in the day. 
Cool white outfit, dad!  :)

When she went to Texas Tech University, the word on the street was that she was one of the most beautiful girls in her sorority.  She had frat boys basically fighting to get a date with her.  I think she is even MORE beautiful today.

I think they are purposely making these stoic faces. 

My mom and dad at their college graduation.

My mom and dad (on the right) with some of their good friends.

She was an amazing teacher to elementary aged children, preschoolers, and of course, her own 3 children.  She has a gift with children - she is funny, fun, and creative.  I remember always doing fun and creative art activities with my mom and I see her doing that with my niece, Caroline, now.

My "Backwards Birthday Party!"  How creative was that - my mom's idea, of course.  We all wore our clothes, hair, shoes, etc. backwards, the invitations were written out backwards (you had to place it up to a mirror to read the invitation), and every activity we did started out backwards.  For example, we ate cake before we sang Happy Birthday and it was the first activity of the party! 

So fun!  Great idea, mom!

My mom and my niece, Caroline, making gingerbread cookies last Christmas.

 She raised 3 children.  I just have one child and I am overwhelmed!  She did this 3 times and was the perfect mom to us - never complaining and always making sure we had the best opportunities in life.

The fam on a fun ski trip

My mom with her girls
Allison is on the left and I am on the right

My mom and dad with my brother, Clayton, and his wife, Tara. 

She stays very busy helping care for her elderly mother, spending time with her children, having fun with her grandchildren, volunteering, attending bible study, managing a home, and spending time with my dad. 
That's a lot of work and she handles all of it with such grace.

BB and Field

To my dear mom, Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday to you!  Thank you for being not only the very best mom I could ever dream of, but also for your dear friendship.  I love that we can cry and laugh together - all in the same conversation.  And I love the mother-daughter relationship that we have.  We love you and are so very thankful for you.  You are a blessing to so many and your beauty - on the inside and out - does NOT go unnoticed.  Hope you enjoy your special day!

This is HUGE!

Well, I guess it's not that HUGE, but it is huge for us (and it's a normal baby, non doctor, non heart related post!).  Field is a great sleeper - when he's asleep!  We cannot get him to learn how to fall asleep on his own.  Honestly, he's just full of energy and so very curious about the world around him that it takes A LOT of rocking, swaying, spinning, singing, etc. to get him to finally fall asleep for bedtime and naps.  Yikes - sounds like a lot of work, huh?  He didn't get the nickname HM (High Maintenance) for nothing!  :)  I have found that if I can catch his nap early enough - before he is too tired - I can rock him to sleep pretty quickly.  He'll usually sleep HARD for about 30 minutes and then he's awake and kicking around.  Now I know 30 minutes isn't really considered a nap (I'm reading the sleeping books and this is what they tell me), so I get all stressed and try to rock him back to sleep and he falls asleep, wakes right up, and it just becomes this vicious cycle until the next feeding, which by this time is usually right away!  Agh!  Well, today, our usual routine happened.  Fed Field, held him upright, played with him for about 20 minutes (have to hold upright due to reflux), and then took him to his room to rock him to sleep for his nap. He went right to sleep and slept 30 minutes and then was awake and kicking around.  I was eating lunch and pumping at the time and was just kind of annoyed that he woke up already.  Due to the fact that I was eating and pumping, there was no way I could rock him to sleep at that point in time, so I just put his paci in his mouth and let him lay there and kick around in his crib.  I went back in to check on him after about 15 minutes and he was sound asleep!  He didn't cry or fuss or anything!  I'm telling y'all, this is HUGE for us.  Probably normal stuff for most of you out there with babies, but my little HM here doesn't ever go to sleep on his own so I was thrilled that he did today.  We are going to keep working on getting him to fall asleep by himself, but somehow the "cry it out" method doesn't sit well for my heart baby.  If any of you heart moms have suggestions on how to get my little heart baby to sleep without going through the "crying it out" stage, I'd love to hear it.

Add More Peeps to our Team

We met with a Pediatric Developmental Nurse Practitioner today.  Most NICU babies have to see the developmental team at least once and it was recommended that we see the team at 5 months of age.  The appointment was at 1.  Not a good time for us, since Field usually takes his longest and best nap from about 12:30-3.  As we waited, this is how my poor baby was feeling...

 Angry!  :( 

Don't worry, he cheered right up once the NP finally came in.  We went over his history and she did the usual looks and comments of shock when I told her about Field's complex congenital heart defect.  I still get really offended when people make comments of shock and disbelief when I tell them about Field's heart - especially when the comments are coming from a medical professional.  Anywho, enough about that, she rolled out a mat, took Field out of my arms, and got right to it. 

Every. Single. Developmental. Milestone. MET with a big 'ole check-mark!  Good job, baby Field! 

She was shocked at how well he is doing and how "normal" he acts and looks.  In fact, he is even a little ahead for his age.  I'm not shocked at all.  In my eyes, he's a star and one of a kind. :) She kept telling me how great he is doing, how great he looks, and what a great job we are doing as his parents.  That was nice to hear. 

We talked a little about the upcoming surgery and we decided that Field will start working with a physical therapist and nutritionist now so that they can get to know him.  That way, after surgery, we can get started with physical therapy and feedings and hopefully, we won't get too far behind.  I thought this was a great idea and the best part is that these people will come work with Field in our home.  We can stay in our PJ's if we want!  Yippee!  I also like the idea of developing a relationship with the PT and Nutritionist now - when things are going smoothly - so that when we are home after surgery - we already feel comfortable with these new Team Field helpers.  

I was thinking today that if you told me a year ago when I was pregnant, that my son would have to receive so many medical services, I never would have believed you!  But we plow through and keep truckin' along and continue to be thankful for all the wonderful peeps that are on our team.

And I have a better picture to leave you with...

Field and his girlfriend, Anabelle.  I never did a blog post to welcome this precious girl into the world, but we just adore Anabelle and her parents.  Anabelle's mommy and I have already arranged a marriage for Field and Anabelle - Anabelle's mom refers to herself as Field's MIL (Mother-in-Law) and I refer to myself as Anabelle's MIL.  Ha!  We went for a walk yesterday with these two darlings and had a great time on a beautiful morning.

Anabelle's mommy has a heart condition so she is a heart buddy to Field.  She will be a great mentor to him as he grows up.  Thankful for that and for her - another peep on our team.  :)

Team Field = Success!

On Saturday, we participated in the San Antonio American Heart Association Start! Heart Walk...

For THIS guy...

In a matter of just 6 short weeks, our friend Courtney, helped us recruit 80 members for Team Field and we raised $2,704.00!  Simply amazing!  Every single participant on Team Field is a good friend of ours and that is such a testament to the love and support that surrounds us on this journey.  And I got confirmation that all of the money we raised for the AHA will support heart research and treatment for the city of San Antonio...this includes all heart issues, including congenital heart defects.  So for those of you that donated, know that your money will not only be used locally, but will help babies, children, and adults who were born with congenital heart defects and need specialized heart care. 

(I put both pics in because I like the way Field looks in the first pic

and I think Brad and I look better in the second pic!  Ha!)

When Brad and I arrived to the meeting spot (with Field, of course!), we noticed that everyone was wearing matching t-shirts.  The t-shirts were red and just adorable.  The front said Team Field with a heart and the back said, "I love Field."  I fought back the tears as more and more good friends and family showed up in these precious t-shirts to support us. 

We were blown away by all that came to walk with us - new friends, old friends (not age old, but time old - ha!), babies, children, family, and more.

It was so very special and we cannot express enough gratitude to all who came out to support us (and those that weren't able to make it, but still joined the team, texted, emailed, and called to wish us a fun and successful walk). 

We started out gathering as a group and the weather was a little chilly, but beautiful.  The group picture does not show all that walked with us.  Quite a few were late and missed the pic (hey, I can say that because if the event wasn't for us, we would have been late too!:) 

We had about 70 people walk for Field.

Afterwards, we fed the ducks at the park.

And finally, we stuck around for the awards ceremony - good thing, because we won an award! 

We received a plaque for raising the most money for the AHA out of all of the community teams in San Antonio. 

Way to go Team Field!  We had to go on stage and I made Courtney talk because I didn't know what to say and I knew that whatever I said would just end up not making sense and I would probably get teary and emotional.  Thanks for taking over the mic, Court!

I've been thinking a lot about how special and fun the walk was for us.  As much as I DON'T want Field to be the little guy we are all supporting because I would give ANYTHING for him to be heart healthy, I know that God provides.  He surrounds us with an incredibly loving and supporting group and we are grateful for that.  When you experience a circumstance like we are, you realize how meaningful the love and support from loved ones is.  So thank you to our dear friend Courtney for helping organize Team Field and to everyone else for supporting us during the walk. 

We are already looking forward to next year!